Writing Links to Help Your Teach Your Child to Write

Teaching tip: Blogging is an excellent way to “write to learn.”Consider starting a blog for your child. They can record school work, Bible studies, family outings, copy work, writing assignments, etc. You can make it private by adding password protection.

Teaching Writing to Children– A general course that will give you ways to get your kids writing right away. Specific topics include two of the four basic writing genre: narration (all children love to tell stories!) and description (adding detail to their writing will help students’ work come alive).

Write Right – Students work in small groups to choose a favorite author and write the author or his/her editor. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. They revise and edit their letters. Grades 3-4

Write On: Hooking the Reader – students will brainstorm and plan before they write using literature books with various examples of figurative language needed to “hook” the reader. The students will also visit a website to experience online examples of figurative language within a story. Grades 3-6

Writing Prompt for Audience -Lesson to develop an awareness of audience, methods of persuasion, and the proper tone or mood to achieve writer’s goal as well as point of view. To practice letter writing.

Creative Writing Lesson Plan – Students navigate through an online interactive virtual zoo to create imaginary animals by combining different parts of real animals. Then they write a short story about their combination creatur

Creative Writing Workshop– The student will be able to convey his or her creativity in a piece of writing during a given time limit and demonstrate creativity in his or her own writing.

Write a Round Robin Story– Students discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person, etc.

Writing Tips and Tools—This site for students leads to many little tricks of the writing trade. Includes the writing process, webbing, figures of speech, plot structures, and much more.

Writing Center at Colorado State University—Among the most comprehensive online writing centers on the Web, this site provides more than 7,000 pages of information on writing and writing across curriculum. Key features include reference materials, interactive tutorials, and annotated example texts.

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab—This site contains writing and handout materials, as well as information about online writing labs; also provides a search index for locating information on the Internet.

Writing a Research Paper

“A research paper is exactly that: a paper written to reflect a search that will present information to support a point of view on a particular topic.” (Basic College Research written by P. Berge and C. Saffioti.)

Summary Writing

The ability to write an effective summary might be the most important writing skill a student can possess. You need to be able to summarize before you can be successful at most of the other kinds of writing, and it is an important part of note taking, too.

“The home is the ideal haven for creating an environment where young writers can flourish.”

—Mary Ann Froehlich

If you’re looking for a book that will help you celebrate and inspire writing at home, then NURTURING THE WRITE RELATIONSHIP is a must have! In this creative piece, you won’t find formal instructions on the nuts and bolts of teaching writing, but instead you’ll find valuable insight on the hows and whys of writing!

Wonderfully written by Mary Ann Froehlich,NURTURING THE WRITE RELATIONSHIP will draw you into the magical world of writing from the heart in the safe place we call home. From the very beginning, Froehlich gives the reader insight into her own personal world of writing and encourages readers to stop reading at any given point so that they can start writing. She also inspires writers to keep trying, as she cites examples of famous authors who didn’t experience instant success.

The book is based on a homophone (words that sound the same but are spelled in various ways):

WRITE—Understand the importance and develop the use of the written word

RITE—Understand the importance of cultivating rituals in family life

RIGHT— Understand the importance of communication in developing right relationships

Froehlich believes that the adventure of writing is lost when writing assignments are viewed as academic exercises. Instead, she introduces exercises for writers, such as journaling, letters, memoirs and more. Her “10 Principles for Effective Writing,” similar to the Suzuki method of teaching music skills, is concise and intuitive.

“If you only remember one statement from this book, let this be it: As a parent, you are your child’s most influential writing mentor. You are the example.” Froehlich expresses this concept about mentors throughout the book. With an approach that refuses to stereotype individuals’ methods of writing, Froehlich encourages writers to express their God-given ability to use the power of words to deal with everything in life, from grief to celebration!

In addition to giving creative advice on how to nurture writing within the home, Froehlich provides valuable resources for writing groups and teachers, including an excellent exercise for teachers to use in their classes with young writers that takes them through the entire publishing process from query letters to sales and marketing.

Interspersed with quotes about writing, NURTURING THE WRITE RELATIONSHIP is a treasure for anyone who longs to write.

Foreword by Robin Sampson

As an author, publisher, homeschool mother, and educator, I am thrilled to see the completion of this book. I was excited as soon as I saw the words “A Family Writing Lifestyle.” Mary Ann shares valuable insights not only about writing itself, but about passing on the gift of written expression as a family tradition . What a gift to pass on to your children —the ability to capture insights, record memories, and relate perceptions and feelings.

We have eleven children ages 5 to 34. I have always encouraged my children to write. Almost twenty years ago, when we began our homeschool journey teaching my children to write well was one of my main goals. The years of writing encouragement have paid off. All my grown children write regularly. Even my very busy 32-year old daughter (a mother of five) finds time to relate touching thoughts and memories through her family scrapbook journaling. Now I take pleasure in priceless annotated scrapbook pages of my grandchildren. I continue to encourage my youngest children to write daily. My five-year old loves to dictate his fascinating stories as I record them. My seven-year old son enjoys copywork and writing and illustrating letters to servicemen. He has written or dictated stories about horses, baseball, and knights (the same type of writing his 28-year old brother wrote when he was seven).

The importance of teaching your children to write cannot be overstated. Skillful writers influence society. Christian writers have the privilege of encouraging, teaching, and strengthening others to have a closer relationship with God. The late Dr. Paul Bubna, former President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, wrote,

“It may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but we must not miss the fact that writing words has a unique power all its own. Something powerful happens to the person who writes the words. It is one thing to think the thought, it is quite another to put it into words and see it on paper, or even a computer screen. That process opens a door of intimacy with one’s self that may be unmatched any other way.”

Our spiritual lives, our success in the work world, and our social networks all require the skill of writing. Writing skills are vital in today’s changing culture. Written communication declined during the age of the telephone but with the development of the computer people are writing again in the form of emails and blogging (on line journaling).

In my book, The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach, I encourage parents to teach their children to write to learn, also known as writing across the curriculum. Mary Ann embraces the same concept because she understands how writing helps to generate thoughts and to organize them logically and concisely. Writing can bring experiences, thoughts and opinions together. We write to express ideas, share stories, document history, imagine the future, express love, and dispense humor. When students tackle a subject, they can experiment with different techniques and strategies for writing. They discover new ideas, new ways of thinking and new methods of expressing themselves. When you teach your children to document their thoughts, feelings, and ideas on paper, you are equipping them with a gift they will use for a lifetime. Mary Ann demonstrates the practical steps to develop this type of writing into a family lifestyle.

This book will be a useful guide for any teacher and especially beneficial to homeschoolers. Most homeschoolers are fond of Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophies which emphasize real-life activities over academic exercises. Mary Ann agrees with Mason explaining how writing assignments that are viewed as academic exercises cause the child to lose the adventure of writing. Mason’s admirers will appreciate how Mary Ann’s unique approach is in agreement with Mason’s philosophy “… we believe that children’s’ minds are capable of digesting real knowledge, so we provide a rich, generous curriculum that exposes children to many interesting, living ideas and concept.” Mary Ann will show you how families working on individual and joint writing projects can motivate children to catch the excitement of relevant writing and come to understand that the art of writing is a powerful life tool.

I became eager to try out Mary Ann’s methods when I read how she taught her children to write using a real-life approach following the rules of an adult writing group. She posed as a mock publisher to lead her children through the writing process from query letters to contracts and finished publications, complete with book signings, and marketing techniques. What a great idea! About a dozen years ago when my grown children were young and learning to write they each created a book using Creating Books with Children by Valerie Bendt as a guide. Through the creation of their books they learned the writing, illustrating, editing processes but they never learned the query and submission processes . Here we are over a decade later writing again, with my youngest children, using Mary Ann’s ideas. I look forward to adding more finished writing products to my somewhat yellowed and faded but treasured papers of childhood thoughts, stories, inspiration, opinions, and beliefs to our
family files.

Although Mary Ann emphasizes forming a writing group, this is only one segment of her collection of ideas. This book contains much more. You will also learn how writing activities and rituals can be woven through the day, year, and even throughout life. Activities include ideas for family journaling, letter writing, Bible journaling, goal journaling, celebration journaling, apology letters, thank-you notes, and even writing to deal with loss and grief. This book is not about the educational nuts and bolts of writing, but is intended to celebrate and inspire writing in the home. Nurturing a Write Relationship will help you develop a family writing lifestyle and tradition.

• Section I teaches you the importance of creating a safe place to write, allowing children to experiment with language. Children will become confident writers when they receive support and encouragement as they move through the writing process.

• Section II details writing education principles. Mary Ann explains how to learn from great writers and how to be a writing mentor to your children. She also dispels several writing myths.

• Section III explains the publishing process for a writing group from vision to revision to the completed process.

• Section IV encourages you to develop a family writing lifestyle with family rituals, traditions, and celebrations and investigates a Biblical view of writing.

• Section V includes many ideas for integrating writing into daily life and closes with the twelve writing principles of a family writing lifestyle.

Mary Ann’s book is full of several first-rate unique ideas to teach children to write that make writing a fun family experience. She provides an attractive combination of solid advice and clever insights on how to motivate and cultivate your children’s writing. I’m giving this book to each of my grown children to support them in their efforts to teach their children to write. I hope your family will spend time developing a family writing lifestyle. I promise it will be time well spent and the benefits are many.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Robin Sampson
Ch. 1 Introduction: Why Did I Write This Book?Section I: Finding a Safe Place to Write
Ch. 2 No Safe Place to Write
Ch. 3 A Safe Place to Write: Introduction to the Writing GroupSection II: Writing Education Principles
Ch. 4 Learning from Great Writing Teachers:
Research as Our Foundation
Ch. 5 How Writers Write: Creating the Writer’s Environment
Ch. 6 The Parent’s Role as Writing Mentor
Ch. 7 Parent to Parent: Three Major Myths About the Writing LifeSection III: Publishing Process for the Writing Group
Ch. 8 Beginning the Publishing Process
Ch. 9 Rejection Day
Ch. 10 Completing the Publishing Process
Ch. 11 More Ideas to Encourage WritingSection IV: Writing Through Life
Ch. 12 Writing as a Life Tool
Ch. 13 Writing Through Grief and LossSection V: The Importance of the Family Writing Lifestyle
Ch. 14 Nurturing the Family Writing Lifestyle and Rituals: Why Bother?
Ch. 15 What Does God Say? A Biblical View of Writing and Family Traditions
Ch. 16 A Wake-up Call for Parents About Literacy 175Section VI: Celebrating With Writing
Ch. 17 Weaving Writing and Arts Traditions into Daily Life
Ch. 18 Weaving Literacy into Annual Celebrations
Ch. 19 In Closing: The Figurative Hope ChestSection VII: Resources and Bibliography

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